


Potential

by Glitteredwithstars



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M, What I think would happen, also, might post a chapter two, really just moments between Ricky and Gina, takes place in season 2, they're really cute, we'll see, who knows - Freeform, will i have insporation? Probably not..
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 08:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30086406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitteredwithstars/pseuds/Glitteredwithstars
Summary: Takes place after season one. Explores the dynamic between Ricky and Gina and season two. They hang out and bond more, really. Just cute fluff.
Relationships: Ricky Bowen/Gina Porter, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Kudos: 11





	Potential

December 2019  
Maybe it comes from habit, the way she's done this a million times over, but she spots him the second she walks down the steps. His hair in wild curls- set apart from the rest. Though this isn't really what Gina notices first, it's the way his arm is wrapped around a petite girl with long dark hair, the girl who's name is Nini. 

From up here she can see everyone, watch the way everyone sits around the coffee table- so comfortable and at ease. Though instead of being inviting, Gina has to fight the urge to slink back up the stairs and into the guest room. 

Coming back, it all seems so much harder the longer she stays. Maybe, she should have stayed away, she feels like a disturbance, a tornado storming through and leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Though really, she's just hurting herself. 

A split-second and her feet are taking her back up the steps and into her safe haven for the night, except she can hear her name being called. 

"Gina! There you are, come and sit with us, everyone just got here." Ashlyn exclaims, patting the cushion that is next to her. Damn it. She thinks, so close.

A quick release of breath, Gina walks the rest of the way down the steps. Her mother was always telling her to be polite, put on your best smile, and present yourself the way you want the world to see you. So Gina does just that and curls the edges of her lips upwards. Pushing away the feelings of self hatred and loneliness. 

She takes the seat offered to her and says hello to everyone. Not once does she look across the coffee table, maybe because it would hurt too much. Although, Gina likes to think it was because there was nothing of interest to her sitting on the other side of the room. 

They all talk around her, and she doesn't offer much to the conversation. Instead, she replays the events of earlier that night. Being back on that stage, dancing and doing what she loved the most in the world. Her heart beating out of her chest in excitement and fulfillment. 

Her heart though raced at the speed of the light the second she saw Ricky. If she had adrenaline pumping up on that stage it was nothing compared to the way it jolted through her body the second his eyes met hers. Her words came out stilted and unsure, though really she had a million things she wanted to say. The main being that she was sorry for the way she left things. Running away was kind of her M.O., she got the feeling it was his too. 

Of course, these things were never said. Play it cool, she had told herself. Emotion, they were just a weakness, don't get too close.

Let it fly, dude. These were the words, that she had actually said? Could she be any more cliche? Watching him walk away, though, after, it gave her a sense of grief that she hadn't really felt the whole time she was gone. Seeing him, it made it real that in just a few short hours she would have to return to her mom, a new town, and new people. 

Then she finds him in the hallway, but not by chance, she was looking for him. His absence in the play in the second act, she knew he was in trouble because the way he had been preforming all night, so confident and excited, and then... gone. 

Something happened, and she was going to find out what. Because even though things weren't the same, he needed her and she was going to be there for him. 

One look and she can see the hurt in his eyes, he was restless and pale. Something had shaken him. His mom, of course.

Gina doesn't mention this though. 

And then he's telling her that he needs to step back for Nini, that this is what's for the best. She knows this state of mind, wanting to push everything away when it becomes too much. It's not the answer though, this she knows. 

So, she takes him to the gym, to the person and things he wants, because if it's right in front of his face- calling him- there was no way that he could say no.

Stepping back though, she thinks, was for her. It feels better this way, watching him get what he wants, needed, than being selfish with her whims. 

This was it, Gina thought, she could leave at peace now. Ricky and her had their closure. Except Ashlyn pulled her aside after the play and told Gina that she could actually stay, have a permanent home, at least for the time being. So now she's here sitting in her living-room and it's becoming the hardest thing for her to do, leaving was the easy way and staying was going to be soo much harder. 

January 2020  
It's the first day of the second semester and she's here, she's actually staying. After Ashlyn's offer she had gone back to her mother and spent the holiday with her. They both talked it over and decided that if this is what Gina wanted to do, she could. 

And, it was. Deep down she knew that these people and this place was where she was supposed to spend the rest of her high school career. 

A week earlier was spent moving all of her stuff in to Ashlyn's house, E.J. helping them. There was a guest room at the end of the hall, she even had her own bathroom. Her and her mother always shared one, it was cool. 

The first night there she found out that her parents were big on familial bonding and they had all played card games over a homemade dinner. They were games she had never played, but her father was a good teacher and she caught on with ease. Really she felt that being here maybe wasn't going to be so hard. 

Okay, so maybe she was wrong. It didn't really hit her until the moment she stepped onto the side walk leading to the school. She doesn't know what it it is, but being back here sends anxiety through her body. Really, it was seeing Ricky again that made her so nervous. 

She doesn't know why, maybe it was because they hadn't talked since that night in the hallway. At the after-party she made sure to keep her distance, though it wasn't like it really made a difference. The whole night he and Nini were attached at the hip, or rather at the hands. Not once did they let go of each other. They hadn't officially announced it but everyone knew they had gotten back together, if not by their final performance, they had made if perfectly clear that night. 

When she enters through the front doors she says goodbye to Ashlyn and heads to her first period. It was English, her favorite and decides that this was a good sign, starting off the day right. 

Instantly this hope is shattered because on her way there she spots the two standing by the lockers. 

Her plan is to rush past them unnoticed, and be on her merrily way. 

"Gina! Hey!." Nini calls out and is waving her over. Okay, so this was actually happening she thinks. She could do this. 

Gina smiles and walks over, "Hey, I didn't even see you guys." she lies. 

"Haha, how are you?" Nini questions, wrapping her arm around Ricky's waist. Gina tries not to notice the last part, and answers the question. 

"I'm great, I moved in with Ashlyn last week, so I've just been settling in." she trails, off and glances over at Ricky. His eyes are on hers and she quickly averts her gaze back to Nini. She can feel the heat rising to her cheeks and forces herself to push that familiar feeling down again. It feels like he can see right through her and her facade, maybe he can. 

"That's great, we haven't seen you in a while, don't be a stranger. Okay?" Nini, she always made it so hard not to like her, there was an effortlessness she had about her, always the first one to reach out and offer kinship. 

"Yeah." Ricky adds, and then the warning bell rings. 

"Well, I better get to first period." Gina tells them and then heads down to the end of the hall and into her class. 

She forces herself not to look back at the two, and keep her focus ahead to the rest of the day and the rest of her time here.  
\- - -  
The next time her and Ricky talk is two weeks later. She's hanging around in the practice room practicing her turns and kicks when he comes in. 

She can tell right away that something is wrong, and she walks over to the stereo and cuts the music. The only sound is his panicked breath, loud and heavy. 

"Are you okay?" she asks, walking over to him. The closer she gets the more she can see the state of him. His face is flushed and there's sweat starting to bead on his lips. 

"Not really." it comes out blunt and hurt. Like just talking about it was enough to make him upset. 

"What's wrong?", Gina can hear the worry in her voice, can feel herself coming back to the way she was when they were friends. Not that they weren't, it's just that things are different currently.

He walks over to one of the chairs in the middle of the room and spins it around to take a seat. Okay, Gina thinks, he did want to talk about something. 

"Nini, she's leaving. Next week." Gina grabs another chair and sits next to him. Nini's leaving? For how long, where? These questions run through her mind and she tries to collect them into a coherent sentence. 

"Okay...", she starts. "So where is she going? Is it permanent?" 

He sighs and rubs his hands on the back of his neck, goes "She got an offer to YAC, they start next week and she told me she was going."

"Isn't that great news? I mean it's an opportunity of a lifetime." The second the words come out of her lips Gina realizes that's not the right words for solace. 

"It's in Denver." He exclaims, like this was an obvious source of anxiety for him. 

"Right, I forgot about that part." Gina tells him and lets her thought trail off, she really didn't know what to say. She got it, people leaving was hard and it seemed that they were always walking in and out of Ricky's life.

"First it was my mom leaving, and then... you. Now Nini's going and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I want to be supportive, but how can I? The last time she went away she found a new boyfriend, what if she starts a completely new life there and forgets about me?" Apparently sitting down was too much to handle because Ricky is now standing up and pacing back and forth, hands waving in worry. 

Gina pushes the selfish thoughts away, he thought about me when I left? And focuses on the confused boy at hand. 

She pushes from her chair and walks over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to still. "Stop it okay? You love each other right?", she waits for a response. 

Ricky nods yes.

"Well then, what else is there to worry about? This is an amazing opportunity for her and you need to be supportive. I know that it's far away and that's scary for you but you can go and visit her on the weekends and facetime her everyday. It doesn't have to be a death sentence, you two can make it. I see the way you are with each other, trust me. You are going to be okay." she finishes her speech with a weighted breath and releases her grip from him. 

There's a look of relief that comes upon his face, and then there are tears and he's crying. Ricky Bowen is actually crying right now.

Not sure what exactly to do Gina pulls him into a hug and grants him a safe space to grieve, though really he isn't losing anything Gina can tell he feels this way. 

He leans in to her and she holds up his weight. She can feel the wetness of his cheeks on her collarbone and she takes her hand and rubs it on his back. This, she thinks is what she made him lose when she left that night in November. Someone he could rely on. 

His cries are silent and she allows him as much time as he needs. He's taller and bigger than her but she doesn't mind, because right now he looks all of seven years old. So innocent and lost. 

It lasts for all but a minute when he pulls away, wiping at his reddened eyes. 

"I'm sorry." he laughs, although it doesn't sound funny. He sounds hurt.

"For what?"

"For getting your top wet."

This time Gina laughs and looks down at the wet stains along the collar of her dark grey sweatshirt. 

Ricky laughs too and they both just look at each other. 

"Don't worry about it." Gina tells him and she means it. 

"Seriously though..." she continues. "It's going to be okay."

"Promise?" he asks, pleading in his eyes. 

"Promise." Gina reassures.  
\- - -  
Everything is not okay. 

They had agreed to stay together, but only a week has passed and Gina has seen the way it's taking a toll on Ricky. 

"You need to eat." she tells Ricky, pushing his pathetic looking school lunch towards him. It's Wednesday which means the cafeteria was serving fish sticks and soggy french fries. As long as she's been here Gina hasn't dared touch the stuff. Instead she woke up every morning and made her own lunch, today it was a salad and baked lays. 

"You're kidding, right? Take a bite first, make sure it's not poison." He tells her, pushing back the tray and waving a stick in her face. 

"Fair.", Gina tells him putting her hands in surrender. 

"At least," she urges, taking her bowl and holding it up to him, "have some of my salad." she continues. 

"I think I'd rather eat this shit, no offense." he tells her, pushing the bowl down and away from him. 

"Yeah, I kinda take offense." she jokes, stabbing the salad with the tines of her fork and popping it into her mouth. 

"Seriously though, what's wrong?" Gina knows the answer, but she wants him to talk about it. At least get his feelings off his chest. 

"Nothing. I'm just not very hungry." 

"You haven't been hungry the past two days." 

He releases an annoyed sigh, and goes. "Fine... I guess I just miss Nini. I don't know ever since she left I've kinda lost interest in everything... food, school, the play."

This comes as a shock to Gina, not the fact that he missed her but the way it was wholly affecting him. She takes a second to survey his appearance; Ricky is pale, his eyes are sunken in and his lips are cracked with dried blood on them. 

Without thinking, she lifts her hand and uses her thumb along his bottom lip, wiping the blood away. Then, there's a pause. Her thumb rests at the corner of his lip and for the first time he looks her in the eye. 

Is something happening? Why the hell did I do that?

Sharply Gina removes her hand and clasps them together, "Sorry." she breaths out, a slight laugh following. "It's been bothering me all period." 

He doesn't say anything and she watches as he runs his fingers across his lips, and gets the rest of the blood off. "It's okay... thanks." 

Gina smiles and returns her attention back to their conversation. "Uhm, so Nini... have you talked to her since you left Denver?" she can hear the sound of her voice, like she was shaken. Get it together.

"Yeah, of course. We facetime every night, it's just not the same. Honestly it makes it even harder, I just wanna reach through the screen and hold her."

Really Gina thinks why she puts herself through this, having to listen to the boy she likes pine for someone else. In reality though, their friendship would always mean more than risking it for something that may never come to fruition. It's clear that Ricky needs someone to bring his problems to, and Gina is happy to step into this role. Welcomes it even. 

She thinks there's this unspoken thing between them, a bond that only they understand. Like each other will always understand what the other one is going through, from the moment she spoke to him it made her feel understood. She hopes he feels this way too.

"Try and take your mind off of the distance, tryouts are next week! Do you know what role you want to audition for?" 

"I don't think I even want to. The only reason I did it last time was for Nini. Now that she's gone there's not really a point." 

"That's your problem. Nini can't be your only source of happiness. Don't do it for her, do it because you want to." she tells him, placing her hand on his shoulder. 

"I guess you're right, but honestly I don't even want to think about auditions. How bout...", he trails off smiling. "We do something fun, this weekend. Just the two of us?" He questions, waiting for a response. 

Gina smiles back at him, thinks she likes this Ricky better. The one who wasn't always upset or struggling with something. "Okay. What's your idea?" 

"Just meet me after school."  
\- o - o - o - o -  
If Gina were being honest with herself she hadn't been this excited for school since, well forever. 

It's finally the end of the week- also her and Ricky have plans after school. She had texted him last night what they were going to do, but he had wanted to keep it a surprise. 

The final bell rings and she walks out into the parking lot. She spots him walking by the tennis courts with his bag slung on his left shoulder. Really, she would spot him anywhere. 

"Ricky!", she calls out, running over to him. He turns around and finds her voice, smiles when he realizes who it was. 

"Porter, there you are!" he exclaims, and they walk side by side. She doesn't know where they are going and waits for him to tell her. 

He stops at a blue car and turns around. "So, I was thinking I could take you to the skate park and teach you some things." Instantly this makes Gina nervous, when she was little she refused to even put on roller skates. Every time she did she would cry and scream until her mother took them off. Gina thinks it was the way you weren't in full control when you were on them. One wrong move and you were on your ass, bruised and beat up. 

"Are you serious? No way, I am deathly afraid of anything with wheels." It wasn't true, she enjoyed bike rides and obviously rode in a car all the time, but still that kind was off limits. 

She figures out this is his car as he opens the drivers side and gets in. Apparently this wasn't up for debate. 

Gina walks to the passenger side and tries to open it, waiting for him to unlock the door. 

He messes with her and she tries it a couple of times and then he decides he's done being irritating. 

"Wow. I'm really regretting agreeing to hang out now." she tells him closing the door as a punctuation to her sentence. 

"Oh, come on. You're gonna have fun." He tells her and reverses, leaving the parking and lot and school in the distance. 

They arrive at the skate park ten minutes later. It's busy because it's the end of the week and this is further fuel for Gina to refuse to do anything. It would be embarrassing. 

He gets out and pops the trunk of his car, pulling a beat up board out and hugging it underneath his armpit. 

"No way, it's too embarrassing. I am not skating in front of all of these people." She tells him, once they're inside. 

"I promise no one is paying attention to you, or what you're doing." 

"They will once I break my neck and fall." she shoots back. There was the nightmare she had every once in a while and it was almost this exact scenario. It starts off with Gina alone at the top of a bowl, and then she finally works up the courage to skate in and then suddenly there's a swarm of other skaters and they all have their eyes on her, waiting for her to fall. Of course she does, and it's painful and terrible. Every time she wakes up sweaty and her heart beating too fast. 

Gina can feel this fear building up in her body, and she feels a warm hand wrap around her wrist. She turns to look at Ricky glancing down at her. "I didn't know how scared you actually were. We don't have to do this if you really are that afraid." His words come out muffled and full, maybe it's just the way she gets lost in his eyes and can't focus on anything other than his warm hand on her skin. 

She could do this, she thinks, especially if her was going to be with her.

Gina lets out a deep breath and shakes her head. "No, I'm fine. I can do this." 

He lets go and smiles at her. "That's the spirit!" and then he's walking over to the corner of the park, Gina following behind him. 

Two hours later and Gina has cuts and fresh bruises to show for her efforts. In some ways both of them were right. No one had paid attention to them two, but she did bust her ass almost the whole time her feet were on his board. 

She's sitting on the floor after her most recent fall, when Ricky comes and bends down close to her. "Shit, are you okay?" he asks, like it wasn't the twentieth time she had fallen in the past ten minutes. 

"Yeah.", she touches her elbow and realizes that there's blood dripping and falling onto her sweater. 

"Here, let me help you up." He extends his hands and takes hers in his. She gives in to his pull and stands up, her left ankle is sore but she doesn't mention it.  
She holds her elbow and tries to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. "I have a first aid kit in my car." He tells her walking towards the front of the building. She follows him out into the parking lot and watches as he puts his skateboard in the back of his car and pulls out a kit with the classic red cross. 

Gina lets out a laugh, covering her mouth. It was cute. "Thanks Doctor Bowen." she prods, as he takes a gauze and wipes the blood off for her. 

"Very funny.", he responds applying a band aid. "Being a skater is risky business. It's always nice to have a few band aids and disinfectant." This makes her laugh even more and Ricky does too, stuffing the kit back into his car. 

"Seriously, thank you." She tells him, and judges his work. There's gauze then two band-aids crossed in an x shape. 

"You're welcome, also it's kinda my fault. I didn't teach you the proper technique." He tells her. "I guess we'll have to come back soon."

"Okay, now that's hilarious." Gina tells him, feigning offense. 

"We'll work our way there."  
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-  
"Again, I'm sorry.", he says examining her arms. There's fresh bruises all the way up to her shoulder. 

"Okay, stop apologizing." She tells him, cramming her mouth with fries. 

After the incident at the skate park Ricky had offered to pay for Gina's dinner. Of course she couldn't so no to free food, also the Ricky part was appealing to. 

They're sitting on the same side of the booth using the other to kick up their feet. 

He pokes at one of her bruises. "I doesn't hurt?" he questions, still focused on her arm. 

"Yeah, more when you touch it."

"Sorry." 

"Stop saying sorry."

"Right."

Gina sighs, and examines her plate. She had ordered a patty melt with fries and a strawberry milkshake. It's this old diner that she's never heard of, the kind that has grease stains on the wall and the memory of what it once was. It's delicious and Gina doesn't think she can eat another bite. 

She pushes her plate towards Ricky, "Here", she says. "I can't finish it." Gina watches as his eyes light up and he digs into the rest of her fries and little bite of patty melt. 

"So, where did you find this place?" She questions. It didn't seem like the place to be on a Friday night, especially as a teenager. 

"My mom used to waitress here when she was in high school, she would bring me and my dad in here all the time." He explains, dipping the fries into a heaping pile of ranch. 

It drips onto his chin, and she reaches out and wipes it away. Again, she needs to learn to fight back on her impulses. She watches as he smiles at her and shakes his head. 

"Sorry, bad habit." She tells him, wiping her thumb on a paper napkin. 

"No, it's cute." He tells her, and it seems this time he's the one slipping up. GIna watches as his ears turn red, and he glances back down at his plate. 

She goes back to her milkshake and sips it, thinking of something to say. 

Thankfully, she doesn't have to because their waitress is coming over with a ticket. 

"Take your time, no rush." She tells them, placing it on the table. 

"Thank you." They say in unison. 

He pays, and they argue as Gina insists on leaving the tip. She wins. 

The sun is gone when they pull up to Ashlyn's house, or hers too now. The ride was quiet mostly with the drumming of music filling the car. 

"Thanks for tonight, I had fun. For the most part." She says, looking at her elbow. 

He laughs, "Yeah, you should probably clean that up when you get inside." 

Then there's silence again. 

Gina doesn't want this to be awkward, there wasn't anything to make it this way she reminds herself. She really just knew it.

He reaches across and holds up her elbow, examining it. "Yeah, you're still bleeding." He tells her, running the pad of his thumb over it.

It takes her breath away and she watches as his eyes so willfully attend to her arm. Like it was something that needed attention right away. Ricky had a way about him, always so intense, but not in a way that made you feel scrutinized, instead important. 

Ricky, like waking up, releases her arm and leans away smiling. "I'll see you Monday." she tells him opening the door. 

He waves and she shuts it, walking to the front door. 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful day. <3


End file.
